Penguins Offense Misses Gas Pedal, Drops Third Straight
The Pittsburgh Penguins started strong but couldn't hold on for their third straight loss.
The Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t been proud of their early performances to start the 2023-24 season, but they looked to open a season-long four-game home stand on the right foot.
As part of the NHL’s Frozen Frenzy, the Penguins hosted the Dallas Stars in one of the more offense-heavy matchups of the night.
Alex Nedeljkovic was given his second start in a Penguins uniform and defenseman John Ludvig was making his NHL debut.
Both teams contributed to an eventful first period of hockey, but it was the goalies that were standing tall to start.
A red-hot Bryan Rust opened the scoring for the game in the closing seconds of the first period.
Jake Guentzel gave a perfect feed to Rust who notched his team-leading fifth goal of the season.
The last few games haven’t seen the Penguins put together quality second periods, and this time around didn’t get off to a proper start.
Emerging elite talent Jason Robertson beat Nedeljkovic to give the Stars their first of the night and tie the contest with a ton of time to play.
Ludvig was forced to leave his NHL debut early after attempting a huge bodycheck on Stars’ forward Radek Faksa, but Ludvig took to worst of the hit.
While trying to get back into a grove following the Ludvig injury, the Penguins allowed a second goal to the Stars giving them the lead.
With Ludvig out, the Penguins would have to play from behind and a man down in the third period.
The Stars took a 3-1 lead after Nedeljkovic made the interesting decision to come way out of his net in attempts to play a loose puck.
As the third period was winding down, the Stars poked home another to give them a distant 4-1 lead.
The Penguins struggled in the second period but were dominated through the third and couldn't muster any offense against Jake Oettinger.
Despite looking for a strong start to the home stand, the Penguins ate another loss and fell to a 2-4-0 record.
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